The development of pesticide resistance is a major problem in the control of many types of pests. To date, more than 500 species (including rats, mice, German cockroaches, mosquitoes, Drosphilia melanogaster, and tobacco budworms) are known to have developed resistance to the toxic effects of a variety of pesticides. Pesticide resistance is characterized by multiple mechanisms including increased detoxification, reduced absorption of applied pesticides, increased tolerance of the pesticide by the target pest, and increased elimination from the pest of the applied pesticide. Such resistance interjects elements of uncertainty when applying pesticides to target pests and can require a regimen of increasing application rates or ever-changing pesticides to overcome or prevent the development of resistance.
Sivasubramanian et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,628 proposes the combination of insecticidal proteins in combination with a vital polypeptide specific for the gut epithelium of the target insect for increasing the effectiveness of b. thuringiensis. Unfortunately, the specificity of the polypeptide does not lend itself to a formulation for inhibiting or overcoming an array of pesticide resistance in diverse target pest populations.
It would be useful to have a pesticide formulation that would inhibit pesticide resistance or reverse a developed resistance in an array of target pests.